In the process of moving

I wanted to apologize to u guys. I haven't had a chance to update the blog this week I am in the process of moving. Looking to update before the first of the week though.

Jesse Owens American Hero

Jesse Owens

 While yesterday was a celebrated national holiday celebrating the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. I wanted to remind Americans of another hero who fought the same fight  as Martin Luther King Jr. but at a much earlier time. Jesse Owens. I am not trying to overshadow Mr. King. I am only trying to remind everyone of another hero in a different time that I believe should be remembered as well.

A Little Background:

  An African American named James Cleveland "Jesse" Jones was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump.  Owens was born September 12, 1913 the youngest of 10 children in Oakville, Alabama. Jesse moved with his family at age 9 to Cleveland, Ohio for better opportunities. It was a time when many African Americans left the segregated south for better opportunities.

Jesse was starting to become nationally recognized when, in high school, he equaled the world records of the 100-meter-dash and the long jump during a high school track meet. He went on to later attend Ohio State university where he quickly became famous. He won 4 NCAA gold medals in both 1935 and 1936 and set 3 world records in a single day during a Big Ten meet on May 25, 1935. He didn't go on a scholarship. He worked himself through college.

At the end of spring quarter in 1936 he traveled to the Olympic tryout finals in New York and won all 3 of his events. On July 25th Owens and his fellow Olympians left for Europe aboard the SS Manhattan. They docked 9 days later in Bremerhaven, Germany. A week later they attended the opening ceremonies in Berlin.  

 

The Story: Olympics in 1936

In between the 2 World Wars the 1936 Olympics were held, in all places Berlin, Germany. They were officially known as the Games of XI Olympiad. With Adolf Hitler being appointed chancellor in 1933 the Third Reich was solidly in power. As propaganda of a "superior race" was being widely spread and detention camps were hurriedly being put into place Nazi Germany was on the rise. In Berlin a new 100,000 seat track and field stadium was built and a communications network that could reach 41 countries was put into place. The Germans were not to be outdone.

Hitler seen the Olympic games as an opportunity to promote his ideals of "racial supremacy". Originally the official Nazi paper wrote in absolute terms that Jews and Black people were not allowed to participate in the games. Hitler was threatened with a boycott of the games from the other nations and eventually relented allowing them to participate. Now that he could participate Jesse was at the forefront of the struggle of racial differences.

As the propaganda machines were depicting ethnic Africans as inferior Jesse was winning 4 gold medals. He won gold in both the 100 meter and 200 meter sprints, a gold in the long jump and also a gold in the 4 man hundred meter relay. Jesse was the most accomplished athlete of the 1936 Olympics.  And he was an African American! 3 years later on September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland. 2 days later the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. World War II had started

 

My Opinion:

Even though I don't believe he knew it at the time Jesse Owens was in the middle of one of the largest conflicts to ever face the world. With him winning gold medals like he did he threw Hitler's theory of  "racial supremacy" right back in his face! He was a hero for it. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesse Owens should forever be remembered. That was the intent behind this post. Maybe someone out there didn't know who Jesse was or what he had done. Hopefully they read this post. One last thing that is funny. As Jesse was growing up his actual nickname was J.C. After the Owens' had moved to Ohio one of Jesse's teacher asked his name for the roll book. He said "J. C." but due to his strong southern accent she thought he had said "Jesse". The name took and he was called that forever more.

Some Facts:

·         During the Holocaust over 6 million Jews were killed.

·         3.5 million people of varying ethnicities were also killed.

·         The Presidential Medal of Freedom was awarded to Owens by Gerald Ford in 1976

·         Owens was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on March 28, 1990 (post humorously) by president  George H. W. Bush

·         The Jesse Owens Award is the USA Track and Field's highest accolade awarded to the year's best athlete. It is named after Jesse in honor of his significant career.

 

 

Stand Up: A Lesson With My Daughter On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (REBLOGGED)

 

Stand Up a Lesson With My Daughter on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

A Memory of Light Released

Wheel of Time fans without a doubt know that A Memory of Light has hit the shelves finally! Since Eye of the World was released in 1990 the WoT series has been a masterpiece with #1 best seller status on all of the books in the series as proof.

Currently I am about half way through the final book and so far I am impressed. Since Robert Jordans death in 2007 Brandon Sanderson took over the job of writing the ending of the famous series. In my opinion he has done a fantastic job!

All of you WoT fans out there speak up and let us know what u think. All of you out there that haven’t read the series and are a fantasy reader book 1 is called Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Start of something new.

In the past week I have been trying out the different blogging sites trying to find a suitable fit for what I want to attempt. Hopefully (crosses fingers) this one will work like and how I want.

The purpose of this post is to actually get a feel of the blog layout as well as let everyone know that this blog is active and under construction. Eventually once I get this blog set up like I want it will be updated weekly with several different topics.Also, I will be posting some of my own writing at some point just to let everyone know what I'm working on and how it is going.

Good Health to All!!!
SAS